Beethoven Violin Concerto - Schnittke Cadenza Mov 1 - Kremer

[Farnik01]

A cadenza is something that a performer plays to add their own style and variety to a work. If the Schnittke cadenza expresses what the performer wants to take out there, there should be nothing stopping them from doing so.

[MaestroTJS]

The appeal of this is akin to graffiti "artists" spray painting the Parthenon (or whatever), adding some Chinese and Egyptian motives, and saying they've created something new and spectacular. I understand why this appeals to some people who like new and edgy things, and it's a slap in the face of traditional cadenzas (and so on and so forth, blah blah blah), but let's be honest: like graffiti, it's just mucking up what's underneath.

[jbordenbass]

This is dumb. Everyone just likes this because they think 'hey I know that piece." Cadenzas are supposed to be beautiful and stunning, not out-of-style and completely out of context.

[gibstudio]

@jbordenbass No need to put classical music in a box. The cadenza shows Beethoven's influence on the next century of musicians. There are quotes from Bartok, Brahms, Berg. I've always found it to be very powerful. I enjoy the Kreisler cadenza too. It's just different.

[unsoldat99]

wow Beethoven meet Ysayë meets Mahler meets Schönberg

[epessina]

GENIAL !

[lovesGenet]

The quotes Brahms& Shostakovich r obvious but this is more than collage.I'd like to know why Schnittke did it this way.

[anaklasis]

First of all, I want to apologize for my rough English. I have some interviews of Dmitri Shulgin Schnittke in Russian and there is a passage in which he explains how he wrote this cadenza.

"I wrote it as a commission by Lubotsky to be played in Kemerovo, [Lev?] Markiz was at the baton. I amazed at the fact that a little known orchestra could play marvelously. Markiz is an outstanding conductor.

[anaklasis]

"The cadenza consists of two parts. The first one (1-47 bars) are the typical cadenza, although not so much virtuosic. The second one -a set of many well-known concerts composed after Beethoven's one- is a sort of a gradual development of Beethoven to Bartók and Berg. Every theme quotated here is thematically linked with Beethoven.

(Bachian choral from Berg's violin concerto 50-51, linking part from Beethoven's concerto 52-57, Bartók's First Violin Concerto I movement 58-59,

[anaklasis]

Beethoven's concerto linking part 60-63, Berg's concert row 64-65, Bartók's 2nd concerto I movement 66-69, Shostakovich 1st concerto II movement 70-71, Berg 72-73, Beethoven 74-77, Shostakovich 1st concerto cadenza 78-81, Bartók 2nd Concerto I movement coda 82-84, Bach/Berg 87, Bartók 2nd Concerto I movement 88, Berg 89-96, reprise Beethoven 97 ostinato, Berg)

End of quote.

Numbers are for bars in the score (Sikorski) Note between brackets is by Shulguin, who Schnittke was talking with.

[OzzyKingofKings]

Beginning around 2:40 I think there's a little snippet from the first movement of Bartok's Second Violin Concerto (or something that sounds uncannily like the same notes).

[felipeharder]

I identified Shostakovich, Brahms and Berg quotes. No Bach, Mozart, Ysaye and Schoenberg, anybody identified? Please write all quotes and the moment that are happens.

[crazy77town]

i must say that i cant stand schnittke in general, but I must admit THIS IS A MUSTERPIECE!!!

and the contrudiction that it maked to the romance of this specific concerto....oh dear Lord!!!

and it has inside some motives of brahms concerto!! just a beauty!!!

[vvvvali]

2:45 - 2:55 Paul Constantinescu string concert quote ... nice cadenza

[mshakhz]

actually it's a Shostakovitch quote - last movement of the first concerto.

[musicmatt09]

I would have walked out.

[sneddley]

Many years ago, hearing this within the context of the whole concerto for the first time without any idea what was coming gave this it's greatest impact on me. Totally radical! Not so shocking now, but still very interesting. Seems to me Kremer paved the way for Giles Apap. How about a Bach Double with the two of them, with cadenzas, naturally!

[valtent]

OMG, it's full of quotes! Shostakovich, Bartok.... There's something reminding also Beethoven 7th Symphony's Allegretto.

[thebloads]

the bartok no 2 has some similarities. but the berg, shostakovich and brahms?

[TheMarioBrothers]

2:49-2:53 : shostakovich's violin concerto in A minor

[thebloads]

i meant stylistic similarities. the shostakovich is a quote

[atralfalgar]

So beatiful !

[aiyaaa]

this is awesome :P

[themusicdr]

if im honest a little bit far out for me but i CAN SEE (hear!) how it works. and it does hold together

kremer is a good soloist to play this

[OriginalMoonbeam]

Wow--beautifully performed and inventive

[gnatural]

HAHAHAHAHAHA this is great... lol everybody is here, Shostakovich, Brahms, lol!! love it. they are all in debt to Beethoven for being the pioneer so i think the cadenza is fitting.

[violinRL]

oh wow. that was great.

[carloslaran]

u hear some of the bartok concerto no.2, shostakovich concerto #1 and the brahms concerto theme

[Semas79]

Alban Berg too

[DannyDaWriter]

Interesting he combined Bartok and Shostakovich together. The two (especially the former) would have a fit if they discovered that they were combined into a cadenza for such a concerto, since they pretty much hated each other.

[abcaster]

The full title of this work is: Two Cadenzas to Beethoven's Violin Concerto in D major opus 61 for solo violin, 10 violins and timpani (1975-1977).

The 10 orchestral violins play a prominent part in the czdenza for the last mvt.

[MrSmartypants]

HA! Do I hear a quote from the 7th symph. at 1:46?

[adidas01003]

what?! I can imagine why this cadenza isn't performed. Funny nonetheless.

[fijneR]

This is pure genius and it is sad indeed that it is not more performed. Classical music woes are in part due to this shyness for intelligent gambling.

[PalazzoFarnese]

It is performed. I listened one month ago in Madrid, with kremer himself and the National Orchestra of Spain, and it was performed in Japan too. It was a great succes, he came after 6 times to the stage!

[MaestrinoClassics]

I forgot to mention - the timpani use at the end is poking fun at people's love of the soft five timpani notes at the commencing of the concerto! Make sure to see movement 3 cadenza as well - also quite interesting. It is a shame that this isn't played anymore, and it is a fabulous recording to begin with, making it quite unfortunate that it went off the record becasue of the cadenza.

[MrSmartypants]

Where did you hear that?

That is awesome. I remember playing this in high school and thinking that timpani sounded pretty neat... Our soloist was winning awards all the time, but of course she didn't use this cadenza!

[gibstudio]

@MaestrinoClassics So excited that you posted this. I'll be playing this cadenza in Michigan at the end of September. There's a portion of the cadenza that is cut in this recording by the way.

[sneddley]

Thanks for the chance to hear this-it had been a long time. I liked it more now-and it didn't strike me now as outlandish as I had thought then. (Also, I heard Bartok in there at 2:42).

[msiu]

I cracked up when I heard the Shostakovich quotes... there's also Brahms and a few other tunes that I can't name right away. It's like the great composers paying tribute to Beethoven!